Cambridge blues and royals

King William IV by Sir Martin Archer Shee, c 1800

1765-1837. King from 1830-37

There are not many similarities between the last King William and the new Duke of Cambridge who will one day become the next King William. The title conferred upon him by the Queen was not the one I thought, (Clarence), but rather that which William IV's younger brother held.

But both William IV and Prince William of Wales do seem to favour a more frugal lifestyle to the person who was their predecessor, (George IV in William IV's case, and Prince Charles whom we assume will be Prince William's predecessor as king).

These historical pointers notwithstanding, the one attribute that struck me as a casual observer, was what manly men both princes William and Harry are, compared to their father and uncles. This is enhanced by their almost indifference to the status which they hold, a trait not unlike their grandmother.

Okay, enough already.

Fighting fit

An impromptu dîner à deux on Saturday night after a fraught day, ended up in a bar where we met Christian Develter, some of whose paintings we went to look at yesterday at his studio near the Chao Phrya river in Bangkok. The bar meeting was not only a chance encounter, but one that was rather blurred and resulted in me feeling a shade of blue the next morning not unlike the Javanese boxer depicted above.

Happily this rather unwelcome state of health did not linger too long and I am not singing the blues, (or indeed belting out the arias quite like la Callas might have).

The frustration of last Saturday's proceedings, (a condo EGM and AGM) might have needed a good scream to get it off my chest.

But instead I am feeling calm, and indeed rather cheerful about life. Do check out Chris's work on his website. The large canvases certainly create a dramatic statement in any interior.

What's in a name?

Clarence House, London

Clarence House was built between 1825-1827 to a design by John Nash, and commissioned by the Duke of Clarence, who became King William IV in 1830. There has been specualtion about the title that will be conferred on Prince William on the day of his marriage, (so as to provide his wife with a title and name). The royal dukedom of Clarence is one such name mentioned, and it would indeed be an interesting repeat, as William will accede to the throne as King William V.

The popular press will doubtless continue to call Catherine "Kate", just as they called the late Princess of Wales "Princess Diana". Neither were born royal princesses, so they cannot correctly use that nomenclature.

Clarence House is attached to St James's Palace, and shares gardens with that property. It underwent extensive renovations after the death of Queen Elizabeth, who had lived there from 1953 until 2002. It is now the London residence of the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry, and will remain the London residence of the newlyweds. 

Images of the interior of the house can be seen on the British Monarchy website here.

My photograph is from a visit to London in autumn 2008. It is perhaps surprising to note the very minimal security, in the person of one sentry.

On the move

This rather stunning Chinese pagoda form sedan chair

having a rattan domed roof over a rectangular carriage, the sides lacquered in red and gilt ornamentation, the seat fitted behind paneled doors and side windows. 78.5"H x 39"W x 38"D, poles 99"L, Circa - 1850-1888, is for sale at the Dallas Auction Gallery and would make an interesting conversation piece for anyone with a large enough hallway. Although more modest, the sedan chairs used in Hong Kong, as below, were a popular form of transportation before the rickshaw.

Sedan chairs, or their equivalent have been used in many cultures throughout history. The litter is a class of wheelless vehicle, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of persons. Examples of litter vehicles include lectica (ancient Rome), jiao (China), sedan chairs (England), palanquin (also known as palki) (India,Pakistan), gama (Korea) and tahtırevan (Turkey).

Circumstances have forced me to consider bringing forward a plan I was not quite sure how to implement. My maid returned from her Songkran holiday to tell me that she needed to leave at the end of April, to go and look after her father, who is to undergo an operation. The short notice is of course tiresome to say the least, as trying to find a replacement, either temporarily or permanently is proving quite difficult, and the thought of retraining someone to suit my ways and requirements makes my heart sink.

But it has opened up an opportunity, and that is to examine the possibility of carrying out some remodelling in the flat we have been mulling over from time to time. If we did this, it would require us, (and all our goods and chattels) to move out for the duration. It would also make sense as the renovation of the condominium is about to start, and it would be quite good to not be living here as the place is given its face lift.

But anything like this is of course unsettling, and we have yet to weigh up the pros and cons.

Watch this space, as they say.

Lock, stock and two smoking barrels

This obituary in the Telegraph of the antiques dealer John Hobbs resonated with an encounter I had with him in 2003. I had an item which I wanted to sell and based on photographs, he sent someone up by plane to Edinburgh to look at it; subsequently he made me an offer which was good for 30 days. As it was a fixture in my listed building I needed permission from the local authority to remove it. I wrote back to John Hobbs explaining this. The permission duly arrived from the authority, but beyond the expiry of his offer. Given the obvious interest from him, I thought I should shop around in Pimilco for others who might be interested. And interested they were, also sending up their experts to view it.

As I was beyond the offer date, but given the other interests, I reverted to Hobbs to see if he would extend his previous offer and can well recall his irritation that I was "hawking it around London". We both declined to do business, but I was able to conclude a successful sale through another equally well-known dealer.  As the obituary states...But he understood when and how to apply menace, and was a doughty litigant...there was certainly something of the night about him, but happily my encounter was without smoking barrels.

Image from New York Social Diary 

Don't leave home without it

Our lunch today on the eve of the Thai new year, (Songkran), ended with a gift from the hotel where we were dining. A clear plastic bag with handles containing a small firm zipped plastic bag, and a shower cap. Now you might think this freebie is completely barking. But if one should venture out in many areas over the next several days of the Songkran holiday, there is a very strong possibility that you would get a thorough dousing of water, courtesy of those wishing to bless you with water for the new year. Unfortunately this rather charming ritual has turned into a rather unwelcome water fight, and is best avoided. In our first year year we were amused by the festivity, but this begins to wane after not a very long time. It is especially important to keep mobile phones and leather wallets in the zipper bag, if you ever want the former to work again. We are not planning any major excursions, unless the point of arrival is in a safe zone. Instead the ginger flower in the puang malais (garlands) that I bought are wafting their heavenly scent throughout the flat. Seems as good a reason as any to stay put.

Peking greening

Peking glass brush holder. Qing dynasty

Peking glass brush holder. Qing dynasty

A time to weep, and a time to laugh

This morning's mood was much affected by a telephone call telling me that the contract signing meeting only yesterday confirmed could not take place, because the other party - the contractor - had gone upcountry to become a monk for ten days. I could not make this up, even if I tried very hard. I should add at this point that is is normal for (Buddhist) Thai men to join the monkhood for some periods during their lives. But it was of course the timing, that hoary old chestnut that plagues this country. After putting the phone down the air was blue, verging on deep purple. I had just been recounting to my beloved that I had a dream last night that the contract was not signed, and when the phone rang, he said "that'll be to say the signing has been cancelled".

Nevertheless, a meeting was called this afternoon, and the other party's representative was asked to explain what had happened. It appears there was a misunderstanding between them and the project manager. This would be an understatement, and I still don't know the exact reason, nor indeed am I inclined to believe any version of the story. However, after listening to explanations and obtaining various undertakings the signatory and lawyer from our side agreed to sign, with the counter party signing as a proxy, (to be endorsed when the travelling monk returns). So what was not exactly tears have turned out to have a happy ending.

Now there's the small matter of a bottle of vintage champagne to consider, and I'm bathed and gladded and ready to party. It's time to laugh. 

This "faces" netsuke is part of a small collection of objets d'art that I display in a perspex stand I designed. Funnily enough one of these objets is a lead monk in his saffron robes, (in the centre), but he's from Rangoon in Burma, (Yangon in Myanmar), whereas my wandering contractor has gone to Chiang Rai, in the north of Thailand; well, actually it's the Golden Triangle, of the three countries of Burma, Laos and Thailand.

Hot air

Luftfahrt: Montgolfiere über Versailles

A time to break down, and a time to build up

I'm using the line from Ecclesiastes 3 in the sense of taking down, (and rebuilding), rather than in having a breakdown. However, I have commented many times before that time is a relative phenomenon in Thailand. Sometimes it's called "Thai time", which means if someone says they will meet you at 1.00 pm, they might turn up at 2.00 pm and think nothing of it, or in Bangkok, blame the traffic, as if the traffic problems here were a new thing.

It is with this in mind I am having my rather limited patience stretched, as we crawl towards the signing of the contract for the renovation of the condominium. The original idea was to sign on 25 March, but this has variously been postponed until 29 March, 5 April, and now 8 April. The first discussions about renovating the condominium started in April 2009. Making decisions about these things by a committee is inviting trouble, and doubly so in a country where making decisions does not come easily. The main reason for this is that people are fearful of taking responsibility. And by that I mean taking responsibility for mistakes. It's inevitable that decisions are not always 100% correct in situations like these, especially when there are many others' interests to consider. But it is important not to allow that to prevent any decision making to take place. If mistakes arise they can usually be corrected without too much difficulty or cost.

Reading between these lines you can detect that there are political considerations, and much of that is based on cultural differences. You might think that a further delay of a couple of weeks is not that significant in the overall scheme of things. But there are reasons for my anxiety, which I'd rather not go into here.

A friend has recently returned from a trip to France and has invited us to drink a 1983 bottle of champagne that he brought back, on Friday evening. I hope neither my mood nor its taste will have soured, but that we shall be toasting success and drinking nectar.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:....

Image shows a Regency Carved Mahogany and Brass Inlaid Mantel Clock, c. 1820, domed case surmounted by pineapple finial, painted dial marked "W. Talbot/ Cambridge", cornucopia handles pierced grilles, fusée movement with striking bell, raised on spherical brass feet, height 20 1/2 in., width 12 in., depth 6 1/2 in, sold by Neal Auction Company for USD500.

A familiarly rosy story

The Telegraph reports on another story of an unexpected "find" at auction. This is becoming quite a familiar story, but it's perhaps less of a surprise as it came from a serious collector.